Today’s Reflection
STABILITY OF THE HEART does not come naturally. But the simple rhythms of tending to body and soul — making oatmeal and saying prayers, keeping house and singing songs — bring me back to a center, to a still point that is fixed in this place. I do not know how to eliminate distractions (even if I shut down my e-mail, turn off the cell phone, and drive to a pristine retreat center, my thoughts are still with me.)
But I can keep the rhythms that are given to me by my church and community. I can listen to my son and watch the birds more closely.
The desert mother Amma Syncletica said, “If a bird abandons the eggs she has been sitting on, she prevents them from hatching, and in the same way monks or nuns will grow cold and their faith will perish if they go around from one place to another.” I hold this fragment like a leaf in my beak. I’ll take what I’m given and build with it.
– Alive Now, September/October 2015
Original source of quote: The Wisdom of Stability: Rooting Faith in a Mobile Culture by Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove. Published by Paraclete Press. Reprinted with permission in Alive Now, September/October 2015. Alivenow.org. http://bookstore.upperroom.org/ Learn more about or purchase this book.
Today’s Question
What have you been given? What can you build? Share your thoughts.
Today’s Scripture
I will bless the LORD at all times; his praise shall continually be in my mouth.
Psalm 34:1, NRSV
This Week: pray for expectant parents. Submit your prayer to The Upper Room Living Prayer Center or share it in the comment section.
Did You Know?
In need of prayer? The Upper Room Living Prayer Center is a 7-day-a-week intercessory prayer ministry staffed by trained volunteers. Call 1-800-251-2468 or visit The Living Prayer Center website.
This week we remember: Howard Thurman (October 22).
Lectionary Readings
(Courtesy of Vanderbilt Divinity Library)
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